‘We will see’, says Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, ahead of High Court hearing of PIL against Kashmir Files

Mumbai/New Delhi, Mar 6 : As the Bombay High Court is set to hear a PIL on Monday that seeks stalling of the release of “The Kashmir Files” on the grounds that it hurts the sentiments of the Muslim comm ty, filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri said “We will see!”. The Bench of the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court will hear the PIL by a person called, Intezar Hussain Sayed, from Uttar Pradesh, who has also contended that the movie shows a “one sided” portrayal of the “incident” – the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley at gun point by Islamist terrorists. Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri in a tweet in Hindi said “हम देखेंगे।” (We will see). The film was shown before a select audience in Delhi at a Premiere screening on Sunday, many of who praised the film on social media. Bibek Debroy, Indian economist and Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, in a tweet said: “Watched The Kashmir Files by @vivekagnihotri and his team. Touching, moving, disturbing. Wonderful film. Do watch. Thank you Vivek and Pallavi for making this.” Lt. Gen. KJS Dhillon, who was a young captain of the Indian Army in north Kashmir during the 1990 exodus of the Pandits, in a tweet said: “Watched the movie at the Premiere screening today. Absolutely gripping and well made movie.” BJP leader Amit Malviya, in a tweet said: “Watched the premier of The Kashmir Files, directed by @vivekagnihotri, this evening. “For someone who lived in the Kashmir valley between 1989-92 and witnessed the genocide unfold, something snapped. The movie is intense and poignant. It is a story that had to be told. Do watch…” Agnihotri, who spoke at the premiere, said that he had travelled to several countries where Kashmiri Pandit families had moved, to video record their stories of the horrors of the Islamist terrorism. “We travelled to South Africa, the US, UK, got video testimonials, we went to Singapore, Australia, Jammu, Delhi, Bangalore, wherever, we chased people,” he said, recounting a few of the disturbing stories that came out. In Jammu, where the film was also screened, Kashmiri Hindu women and many in the audience broke down in tears, while watching the film. According to the PIL filed by Intezar Hussain, the trailer of the film “hurts religious feelings of Muslim Comm ty”, and he has contended that “the inflammatory scenes are bound to cause communal violence”. He has termed the film a “propaganda piece” and not an “artistic expression”, and therefore the film comes under restrictions to Article 19(2) as “person cannot exercise basic fundamental right while violating another’s”. ANV RN